Italy Hold Their Breath For Gallinari

Italian forward Danilo Gallinari will undergo an MRI scan on his left knee on Friday

Italy and the Denver Nuggets are facing a long, nervous wait on Friday as they are expecting the results of an MRI scan on Danilo Gallinari to come out.

The Italian international's left knee buckled inwards as he drove to the basket with 4:16 left in the second quarter of Denver's home game with the Dallas Mavericks in NBA action on Thursday night, which his team ended up winning 95-94.

Gallinari hopped to the sidelines with his hand holding his knee and was wheeled off the court seconds later.

The Nuggets will not comment on his situation until the MRI scan results are known, but some early reports in the USA suggest the charismatic forward might have torn his ACL.

"I can't deny it didn't look good," said Denver head coach George Karl.

"I usually look at the player's face and, he was scared; he obviously felt that he'd hurt something."